Alternatives to mail.app - I want a more advanced email client

[cmm]

Can someone tell me the OS X alternatives to mail.app?

I am almost tempted to use Gmail for its great search engine and interface, but I am hoping there is a client I am unaware of on OS X that works better than Apple's mail.app.

I've heard good things about Postbox 2, but the price is steep and I am not happy with the way the company handled the recent upgrade to v2 for current v1 users.


Any other suggestions? I would like faceted searching and an intuitive look.

My email accounts are all on my email server and I use IMAP.

Thanks!

 

[neko girl]

May I ask what is not advanced about Mail?

 

[PurpleMarmalade]

Mail.app does have quite a few bugs, and more than a few irritations. Example of a bug: specifying font formatting in HTML emails doesn't work at the receiving end (which is stupid). Example of an irritation: it still has a horizontal view, which is also stupid.

You could try Outlook 2011, although that is buggy. If you are a Gmail user (as I assume), you might try Sparrow. Or Mailplane. To be honest, though, I have always been slightly disappointed by the email client offerings on OS X.

 

[celticpride678]

Microsoft Outlook 2011 or Mozilla Thunderbird.

 

[JamesMB]

To be honest, though, I have always been slightly disappointed by the email client offerings on OS X.

Have you tried Postbox 2? Most of the reviews are great, and I thought it would be great for 30 bucks, if it indeed works as advertised.
I was thinking about Outlook 2011 also, but it is just toooo buggy.

 

[philxor]

What advanced features are you trying to accomplish? I have been using Outlook 2011 for about a month now and have had very little issues with it so it is now my mail client of choice.

 

[PurpleMarmalade]

Have you tried Postbox 2? Most of the reviews are great, and I thought it would be great for 30 bucks, if it indeed works as advertised.
I was thinking about Outlook 2011 also, but it is just toooo buggy.

Perhaps unfortunately, my work email is Exchange, so Mail.app or Outlook 2011 are my only choices at present. I hope that changes, and Postbox 3 offers native exchange support. Or, a dream: that Apple actually concentrates on making Mail.app better.

 

[JamesMB]

Or, a dream: that Apple actually concentrates on making Mail.app better.

That would be my first choice. Heck, I would even consider paying for it, if they would improve it enough. There is no reason that they couldn't keep offering Mail.app in the bundle and then offer a much better product for a price, kinda like what they do with iPhoto and Aperture.

 

[miles01110]

Why even ask the question when you provide no helpful information that would give us a hint at what you were looking for? Why does Mail fall short? What is your budget (hint: if it's "zero dollars" you aren't going to get farther than Thunderbird or Pine)? What features do you want besides "faceted searching" and "an intuitive look" (which is so highly subjective as to be completely useless as criteria)?

 

[MisterMe]

Have you tried Postbox 2? Most of the reviews are great, and I thought it would be great for 30 bucks, if it indeed works as advertised.
...

Postbox 2 is a paid version of Thunderbird. I am not a fan of Thunderbird. I am less of a fan of Thunderbird for money. I use Mail at home and am happy with it. I use Entourage at work because my employer uses an Exchange server. I have Thunderbird and the dailies installed, but have never been tempted to switch. I have looked at Postbox, but see no value added to Thunderbird.

 

[cmm]

Why even ask the question when you provide no helpful information that would give us a hint at what you were looking for? Why does Mail fall short? What is your budget (hint: if it's "zero dollars" you aren't going to get farther than Thunderbird or Pine)? What features do you want besides "faceted searching" and "an intuitive look" (which is so highly subjective as to be completely useless as criteria)?

How about a mail app that does exactly what I asked in what you quoted, i.e. "faceted searching".

Faceted searching is not subjective. Now, the facets that are available or that I can create can be subjective, but I would assume any mail application that allows for faceted searching would allow me to create facets ad hoc.

Mail falls short because it doesn't handle IMAP well for one of my accounts. It sends the same message to my inbox 5-7 times throughout the day, even after I have moved it off the server. It makes it intolerable to manage my email.

It also does not have a good search engine, or faceted searching available, so I cannot easily find what i need within ~10GB of emails.

Finally, the interface also looks "old" -- I realize that is subjective, but I do like how Google Mail looks (however, I don't want a webapp, I want access when offline as well).

 

[miles01110]

How about a mail app that does exactly what I asked in what you quoted, i.e. "faceted searching".

You already said you didn't like PostBox, which has the most advanced search engine available for GUI Mail clients in OS X that I've come across. You also are hemmed in by your lack of willingness to spend money for advanced features. You do understand that you are unlikely to find something that fits your needs for advanced email management without paying, right?

Mail falls short because it doesn't handle IMAP well for one of my accounts. It sends the same message to my inbox 5-7 times throughout the day, even after I have moved it off the server. It makes it intolerable to manage my email.

Sounds like a server problem to me, but OK.

It also does not have a good search engine, or faceted searching available, so I cannot easily find what i need within ~10GB of emails.

Between Spotlight, local folders, and sorting I've never had a problem finding what message I need (or at least narrowing it down so that I could easily find it) with a comparable archive.

Finally, the interface also looks "old" -- I realize that is subjective, but I do like how Google Mail looks (however, I don't want a webapp, I want access when offline as well).

You can use GMail offline. http://gmailblog.blogspot.com/2009/12/offline-gmail-graduates-from-labs.html